16 June 2014

President Barack Obama will sign a an executive order that will extend LGBT non-discrimination protections to employees of federal contractors, reports the Associated Press, civil rights organizations and sources within the Administration.

The move follows years of pressure from gay rights groups for Obama to act on his own while a broader employment non-discrimination measure languishes on Capitol Hill. ... Obama has used this tactic before, signing executive orders that raise the minimum wage for federal contractors and expanding the number of workers who would be eligible for overtime pay. White House officials have cast the approach as part of the president's effort to work around a Congress that continues to be mired in gridlock.

But those moves increased the frustration among gay rights supporters who have long pressed Obama to extend workplace discrimination protections to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals working for federal contractors. The White House publicly offered little explanation as to why the president moved forward on the wage-related orders but not the anti-discrimination measure.

The announcement comes on the eve of the President's annual LGBT fundraising gala in New York City.

There currently are is no federal legislation that bans workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Democratic-controlled Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in November 2013 on a 64-32 vote. All Senate Democrats voted for its approval except Pennsylvania's Bob Casey. Ten Republicans also supported the bill.

The legislation has stalled in the Republican-led House. Majority Leader John Boehner has said there will not be a vote despite overwhelmingly support among the Democratic caucus.

ENDA passed the Democratic-controlled House in November 2007 but did not include transgender protections.

Some civil rights and LGBT groups have criticized the currently-worded ENDA for "terribly broad religious exemption[s] [that] would extend beyond churches and other houses of worship to any religiously affiliated institution, like hospitals and universities, and would allow those institutions to discriminate against people," noted the New York Times.

It is currently legal to fire people because of their sexual orientation in 29 states. It is legal to fire people for their gender identity in 32 states.

29 May 2014

This is absolutely brilliant. Orange is the New Blackactress Laverne Cox is featured on the cover of the June 9 issue of TIME. Cox apparently has made history as the first trans woman to cover the iconic publication.

What a wonderful bday present! Yes today is my birthday and I am on the cover of @TIME magazine. I realize this is way bigger than me and about a tipping point in our nation's history where it is no [lo]nger acceptable for trans lives to be stigmatized, ridiculed, criminalized and disregarded. This is for my trans siblings out there and for anyone who has ever been told that who you know yourself to be at your core is not legitimate. You are who you know yourselves to be. #girlslikeus #whereislavernecox #lavernehive

The cover article is "The Transgender Tipping Point: America's Next Civil Rights Frontier" reported by Katie Steinmetz.. Unfortunately it is behind a paywall but the preview can be seen HERE.

Cox soared to the top of a TIME 100 reader poll in April. The OITNB actress eventually did not make the TIME 100 and many complaints were raised. It's great to see that the editors had bigger and better plans for the actress.

Watch a behind-the-scenes video of the making of the cover feature AFTER THE JUMP ...

09 December 2013

There are welcome developments in a tragic and horrific case that R20 has followed for five years ...

The New York Court of Appeals will consider an appeal in the case that set convicted killer Dwight Delee free in July 2013, reports Syracuse's CBS 5 and ABC 9. DeLee had been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the hate crime killing of Lateisha Green. The 22-year-old transgender woman was gunned down at point-blank range in November 2008 in Syracuse.

The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court dismissed the charge, ruling the jury's verdict was flawed. Though DeLee was convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime, he was not found guilty of a simpler charge of manslaughter, which officials called a mistake. Justices said the jurors should have been sent back to deliberations after finding inconsistent verdicts.

"I was outraged that our daughter's killer was released from prison on a technicality," said Roxanne Green, Lateisha Green's mother, in a statement to CNYcentral. "Now I feel some relief that New York's highest court will review this case. I want justice for Teish."

Oral arguments will begin early next year.

DeLee was convicted in August 2009. At that time he became only the second person in the United States convicted of a hate crime that involved the death of a transgender victim. The first conviction was the Angie Zapata case in Colorado.

The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, Lambda Legal, Empire State Pride Agenda, Anti-Defamation League and New York City Anti-Violence Project filed a "friend of the court brief" with the New York Court of Appeals that urged the Court "to reverse the 4th Appellate Division's ruling and reinstate Dwight DeLee's conviction," TLDEF Executive Director Michael Silverman wrote in an op-ed last month at the Syracuse Post-Standard.

"The jury reached a proper verdict," said Silverman. "It saw first-degree manslaughter alone as a lesser offense and therefore chose 'not guilty' on that charge, but concluded that first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime was the correct verdict,"

Lateisha Green transitioned at the age of 16 and had been living as a young woman for six years. The victim shared this information with DeLee before he gunned her down in rage, according to police and witnesses. Green was "lured" to a house party where she was waiting outside in a car. DeLee walked up to the car, "pointed a loaded .22 caliber rifle at [her] and shot [her] once in the chest," according to police. Green's 18-year-old gay brother was also shot and injured.

06 December 2013

Popular Chicago-based blogger, publicist and promoter Waddie Grant has debuted his second annual "power" rankings. The first installment of the 2013 "Black LGBT Power 100″ was released this week. It boasts some familiar names and faces such as the MacArthur "Genius" Award winning playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney (above), basketball player and singer/songerwiter Will Sheridan, vlogger Derrick Briggs, Florida high school football player Leo Washington, American Idol's De'Borah (below) and many others. There are also quite a few surprises and unfamiliar names. It's an eclectic mix of athletes, events, web series, promoters, writers, activists, social media and reality personalities and more. Very nice.

The "Power 100" was expanded from last year's list, said Grant. "After the release of 2012′s 'Black Gays Rock', the overwhelming response showed how seriously our fellow Black LGBT people took the intent of this list," said Grant. "We need to celebrate ourselves more—with and without rankings—and recognize who our power players are beyond our social circles and regions."

Hear, hear. Looking forward to the second installment of Waddie Grant's list as well as other year-in-reviews from across the web.

01 December 2013

Making this year's list: The Food and Drug Administration has approved the antiretroviral medication Truvada to reduce the risk of HIV infection in uninfected individuals. That biomedical prevention strategy is known as pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP.

Truvada becomes the first medication ever to be approved for HIV prevention in adults, marking a major milestone in the 30-plus years of the global epidemic. But many questions remain around adherence, risk, access .. as well as the outrageous $14,000 annual price tag. Meanwhile, there are promising developments in the decades-long quest for an HIV vaccine.

16 October 2013

Nineteen-year-old Rashawn Brazell left his Brooklyn home on February 14, 2005 with résumés and prepared to go job hunting. He was never seen again. Brazell's dismembered limbs were discovered in trash bags in a
subway tunnel and a recycling plant in Brooklyn during the following weeks. There have been no leads and no arrests in the almost nine years since his gruesome murder.

The case was initially ignored by most mainstream and gay media, as well as traditional LGBT advocacy groups—as is often the case in the disappearance or killing of young black LGBT men and women. Months
later it gained some traction.

Rashawn Brazell is just one of a number of slain Black LGBT youth featured on the latest episode of the webseries No More Down Low. Watch the episode AFTER THE JUMP ...

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department has faced mounting criticism ever since Richardson's September 17, 2009 disappearance after being released at 1230AM. The California State-Fullerton student had been arrested for not paying her $89 tab
at a Malibu-area restaurant. Richardson's grandmother offered to pay
the bill by credit card over the phone, but the restaurant refused. It
was later revealed that the former beauty queen was troubled and bi-polar.

NMDL also reports on the recent murders of Deoni Jones, Islan Nettles and the escalating number of Black LGBT women that are viciously attacked and killed. Numerous studies have shown that Black and Latina trans women are at the greatest risk of violence and the murders of Black transgender women are often unsolved. Thankfully there have been arrests in the Jones and Nettles cases.

25 September 2013

Judith C. Rice is an attorney and lifelong Chicagoan with a gold-plated resume. Rice was treasurer for the City of Chicago from 2000 to 2006, was "the first female commissioner of both the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Department of Water" and was director of the city's Department of Revenue.
She is currently the senior vice president and head of community affairs & economic development for BMO Harris Bank.

Judy Rice has been active in the city's LGBT community for 30 years and has officially come out as lesbian in an interview with Kate Sosin at Windy City Times. Rice is running for judge in the Cook County Circuit Court 7th Subcircuit. If elected, she would become one of the more high profile openly LGBT elected officials in the city.

WCT: You have strong ties in the community. Did you feel pressure from the community to come out over the years?

JR: I think that people have always known who I am, the people who know me. I've never hidden who I am from people who know me. I wouldn't say it's any pressure. It's me feeling that it's important that we raise our hands at this point in time because people need to understand that LGBT are around them everywhere in the community. Maybe they're doctors, maybe they're lawyers, maybe they're sons, maybe they're daughters. So, the more than we can show that, the better it is going to be for our community.

WCT: Could you have imagined 30 years ago when you started attending Pride that it would be possible to run as an out candidate for judge?

JR: I could not imagine at all. I was a scared, young person to be out on the street and be physically identified. So, look at the change that we have had and that we've come to through the work of many people who are a lot more brave and a lot stronger than I ever have been.

Rice also discusses the need to make the court system more responsive towards transgender men and women,

[W]e see a lot of them. Everywhere that you go, you're asked to identify yourself. So one problem and one issue those would bring for individuals who are transitioning or have transitioned are in the workplace. Are they going to be accepted? Are they going to be able to be terminated from their jobs because they're transitioning? So those are the types of issues that we have to make sure people are safe, that they have their civil rights.

It's a very moving interview
and well worth the ten minute read. Brava to Judy Rice for making this
announcement. She is a wonderful leader and a superb administrator.

The arrest of Nhlanhla Msimango in connection with the murder of Siphiwe Nhlapo happened about two weeks ago near Jo'burg in Gauteng province, reports Eyewitness News. Msimango is scheduled to appear in court today.

Msimango had been evading arrest for over a year and was detained after a hijacking in Dobsonville. Police are investigating whether he is connected to the murder of Siphiwe Nhlapo after relatives of the victim identified him.

Nhlapo was found dead in his Kliptown home in September 2011. Police found that he had been strangled and that his face was covered in acid. It is believed that Msimango murdered Siphiwe Nhlapo. The police have noted that the modus operandi was similar to that of the other victims.

There have been three other arrests, reports the Saturday Star. The only other arrests linked to the serial murders came in the case of Norwood resident Barney van Heerden.
"Three men were arrested for the crime and their trial begins next
month, but they have not been forensically linked to any of the other
crimes."

More than two years ago, detectives lost valuable video surveillance footage of one victim who was seen with an unknown man shortly before his death. Public pressure forced authorities to create an inter-agency task force
after investigating offcers were criticized as incompetent.

Same-sex acts are currently illegal in at least 38 of 54 African countries. Four nations—Mauritania, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan—boast the death penalty for gays
or same-sex activity. South Africa and Seychelles are the only African
nations that protect LGBT rights. South Africa is also the only African
nation to guarantee marriage equality and gay adoption.

An estimated "510 women report being the victims of “corrective” rape
every year in South Africa and 31 lesbians have been murdered over the
past 10 years because of their sexual orientation," according to South African human rights activist Ndumie Funda. The government has announced it will introduce hate crime legislation, "which would include laws to prosecute physical and verbal attacks on foreigners and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people."

12 August 2013

A federal judge has ruled the New York City Police Department's "stop-and-frisk" policy violates the United States Constitution. The controversial practice violates the Fourth Amendment that protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, said United States District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin in a 195-page decision, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Scheindlin found ... "the city adopted a policy of indirect racial profiling by targeting racially defined groups for stops based on local crime suspect data. This has resulted in the disproportionate and discriminatory stopping of blacks and Hispanics in violation of the Equal Protection Clause."

The judge added that evidence showed that minorities are "indeed treated differently than whites."

Between 2004 and 2012, the police made approximately 4.4 million stops under the program, which Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have credited with helping drive down crime. More than 80% of those stopped were either black or Hispanic and about 90% of those weren't charged with a crime.

The widespread profiling of Black and Latino youth and men have become a cornerstone of the Bloomberg Administration, adds Reuters.

Police personnel felt or were aware of pressure to increase the number of stops when Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office in 2002 and brought in Raymond Kelly to be NYPD Commissioner, the judge wrote. ...

A 2012 New York Civil Liberties Union report showed a sharp, steady increase in police stops over the course of Bloomberg's three terms in office - to 685,724 in 2011 from 160,851 stops in 2003, with about half of the 2011 stops resulting in physical searches.

[Critics say] ... [t]ransgender people, for example, may be assumed to be presenting fake identification to officers because their gender identities and new names don't match their official documents. For the gender-nonconforming, that could mean getting a citation for disorderly conduct "because you didn't act the way you should act, according to your gender," or as police are expecting a man or woman to act in that situation.

There are few reliable statistics about how many LGBT people are stopped by police in New York City. But Andrea Ritchie, coordinator of Streetwise and Safe, said that at least a quarter of gay youth become homeless at some point in their lives, often due to family stresses. This puts many of them on the street, which raises the likelihood of unwanted police encounters. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, about 20 percent of all homeless youth in the U.S. are LGBT, even though LGBTs make up less than 10 percent of all young people.

Ritchie also cited a recent study in the New York Law School Law Review that found gay youth were twice as likely as straight people to report "negative sexual contact" with the city police over a six-month period. But for various reasons, Ritchie said, gay people on the whole are reluctant to file formal complaints.

Judge Scheindlin's "ruling came after a federal class action lawsuit was brought against the NYPD because of the practice, leading to a nine-week trial that ended on May 20," adds COLORLINES. The lawsuit was launched by Black and Latino plaintiffs who believed they were the victims of racial discrimination.

05 August 2013

Actress, reality star and activist Laverne Cox has earned rave reviews for her amazing performance in the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black. Author Piper Kerman, Cox and several other cast members appeared Sunday on "Melissa Harris-Perry" to discuss the real-life issues behind the memoir and the series.

"It's really powerful for me to hear from [people] all across the country who are connecting to my character [Sophia]," Cox told Harri-Perry. "Partly because of Sophia's love for her wife Crystal. I've never seen a Black family like that on television. Trans identity is usually portrayed as something that is white. Partners who transition are portrayed as white women."

Orange is perhaps the first popular show to feature a black
transgender woman as a sympathetic lead character. Following the show’s
successful debut, transgender characters appear poised to enter a number
of other programs, ushering in a new chapter for television. ... "In reality, as a trans person, who lives and breathes and knows other trans folk, there’s so many transgender stories that need to be told," Cox said.